Pleurisy

So I was at work in the middle of a flare when suddenly I thought I was either having a panic attack or a heart attack. Pain right in the middle of my chest! My rheumy told my its pleurisy. It hurts to breath and def. not fun!! He says it goes hand in hand with Lupus. Should I take it for granted that he knows what he's talking about or ask for labs or xrays to confirm?

I have been very uncomfortable since then and like I said it very tight and hard to breath. Anyone else go thru the same thing where the doc just said that it was pleurisy without labs?

Post Edited (snowcone) : 8/31/2014 5:27:16 PM (GMT-6)

Sorry to hear that you're having chest pain and SOB. It does sound like pleurisy, do you get relief when you lean forward? If you do then it's possible that you have pericarditis or a pleural effusion. The EKG will be able to rule the pericarditis or an echo will. The chest x-ray should show if you have an effusion.

I've had all of the above many times over. Matter fact I'm on a medication to keep me from getting pericarditis. I have chronically and so I take something daily to try to avoid that happening. Normally, for me, I end up in the hospital on high dose IV steroids, pain medication, and lots bed rest. However, I've got lung issues anyway and am on oxygen 24/7 at 3 liters. So my docs usually never take a chance at sending me home with one of these.

Please let us know what you find out and I hope you start to feel better really soon.

Hugs,
Barbara